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Klaipeda Port CEO Algis Latakas: "Ambitions and goals always have to be big"
Linas Jegelevicius
Photo: Algis Latakas is CEO of the Klaipeda State Seaport Authority that manages the Port of Klaipeda
Klaipeda Seaport, the locomotive of the Lithuanian economy, is one of the few ports maintaining a growth tendency compared with other Eastern coast Baltic seaports. And the first half-year of 2021 has been auspicious for the port too, despite the coronavirus gloom and the uncertainty about Belarus freights at the port. The Baltic Times Magazine sat down in early August with Algis Latakas, CEO of the Klaipeda State Seaport Authority that manages the Port of Klaipeda, to catch up with the latest developments at the port.
You've been at the helm of the port one year. Did you grasp the nitty-gritty of all the operations? Are there any questions you may not know answers to?
I am not new in the port as my previous jobs were closely related to the activities of the port. So I was lucky in a way not having been compelled to spend extra time in learning what, say, the terms "port gates", "quay" mean and figuring out why the port channel has to be deepened and so on. But one of the issues that bothered me in a way, as someone who had worked in private sectors previously, was not having a clear answer why some decision-making and why some processes sometimes take so long. But I got used to that too, I'd say – adapting is part of my personality.
The Port of Klaipeda has set out on a very ambitious path – by 2040 becoming the most important hub of transportation and industry on the Eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, with the cargo amount expected to reach 100 million tons by then. What are the expectations based on?
I am convinced that ambitions and goals always have to be big. Maybe even bigger than we can realistically handle them, as only that drives us forward.
The number you mentioned was chosen having evaluated the port's development dynamics and prospects, the markets and the other ports nearby and the potential of the Klaipeda region and the Lithuanian economy on the whole.
But not the tons or other quantities are the most important, to me at least. As the world is rapidly changing, sustainability is becoming one of the most important components of the development of any business, including our port. We must be not just sustainable and flexible and economically viable throughout, but also environmentally and socially responsible.
This has become a new norm, and it falls well with my vision as the CEO. When it comes to being eco-conscious, the Port of Klaipeda has prepared a far-reaching long-term programme – we are definitely on the course of becoming a green port.
To get prepared for that, the Port is carrying out a series of evaluations and auditing – all provided by reputable independent experts – to assess the real situation we have and see what needs to be done to achieve the goal.
As we live in an era of cutting-edge innovation, digitalisation, the need for sustainable development is indeed leading to huge changes. Flexibility becomes one of the most important features of a successful business, so the contours of our vision can change.
Sustainability, sustainable development is not just a suddenly popular concept.
The total value created is starting to be measured in this respect, which means that, in the case of sustainable activities, perhaps in the future 80 million tons of cargo will create the same value as 100 million tons.
Sustainable development consists of three main things: environmental protection, economic benefits – profitable activities and creation of high added value, also social benefits for people, city, state.
The potential of the Port of Klaipeda is indeed big – not only for the Klaipeda region, but for the entire Lithuanian economy too.
The year 2020 was recorded in the history of Klaipeda Seaport as the most successful year in the entire life of the seaport. According to the preliminary data, 47.74 million tons of cargo were stevedored in Klaipeda Port last year. Is the year of 2021 on the course of smashing the record?
Indeed, the last year was record in terms of the stevedoring volume in the port. I regret a little that we failed to hit the landmark 50 million tons mark. But like in sports, breaking records is much harder after you just do it, especially for the second consecutive year.
The Port of Klaipeda looked good last year not only among the closest Eastern Baltic ports but also in all of Europe. Our strength lay in diversification of cargoes, i.e., the port is suitable for stevedoring of any type of cargo.
This allowed maintaining good results and overtaking the competitors, who are loading just cargoes of one or several types.
Another important factor was long-term and continuous investments into the port's infrastructure and technological development of terminals. Klaipeda has been working on this consistently.
The best ever result was achieved last year even in four categories of cargoes: the biggest growth was recorded in the segments of fertilizers, grains, ro-ro, and liquefied natural gas (LNG). The stevedoring of grains grew the most – when compared to 2019, one third more grains was loaded last year. The stevedoring of fertilizers also increased significantly – by 12 percent.
Approximately 6 500 vessels called at Klaipeda Port last year, i.e., some 5 percent less than in the year before. However, not even a single cruise ship was not able to come to Klaipeda in 2020 because of the pandemic.
Looking forward to the remainder of this year, the stevedoring remains at the same level as it was last year – some of the months this year have even produced better results, I mean on year.
It may be too early to say how the year till turn out, but the results of the performance during the first half of the year are really encouraging – the port averaged 3.4 million monthly tons in stevedoring in the first half of 2020 and the numbers a year ago stood at 3.6 million.
Owing to unimpressive June, we were just 0.2 percent behind the record-setting course at the half-year mark, compared to the first half-year of 2020.
Let's see what happens during the remaining stretch of the year, but I am optimistic – partly due to the good forecast of the crops season. Notably, grain stevedoring takes up around 10-12 percent, or ca 4.5 million tons, of the whole pie.
However, even a larger part, one-third, belongs to Belarusian freights at your port. Are you concerned that, with the new EU sanctions against Belarus going into effect, it can be just erased or reduced significantly?
Indeed, the number is right – in fact, it was 32 percent last year, and it excludes some of Belarusian cargo with their unclear final destination.
It goes without saying that the Port of Klaipeda is very sensitive to any changes in the Belarusian cargo volume.
Speaking of the sanctions, the impact is double. Following the decision of the embattled Belarusian governement last year, a part of oil cargos was already directed towards the Russian Baltic ports, Saint Petersburg and Ust-Luga, – Russia has long insisted that all east-bound shipments go through these ports. The loss of our port from such oil shipments comprised around 2 million tons.
The US sanctions against 9 Belarusian companies earlier this year were not effectively tangible to the Klaipeda port, but the latest new sanction package by the European Union in July raises certain questions and we do not have answers yet.
If things changed for worst in the regard, the port would sustain a palpable loss – I have to be honest, and it would take time to adapt to the new reality. But the clear advantage Klaipeda port has is its diversification – other cargoes would eventually make up the loss.
Just recently we learnt that MSC, a major leader in global container shipping, has chosen Klaipeda port as its hub for its containers bound to India and Pakistan.
Lithuanian media has reported about the plans by Lithuania and Ukraine to enhance their marine economic relations through their respective seaports. Can you please elaborate on that?
Our port seeks to explore every possibility and, indeed, Ukraine has big potential.
Although the country has its own seaports, in some cases it would rather use the northern ports, ncluding ours, for hauling or fetching cargoes.
In the instance of Ukraine, getting Ukrainian freight to Scandinavia through Klaipeda is cheaper and faster. I believe Klaipeda can become Ukraine's northern gateway once the potential is unravelled.
In July, the Lithuanian minister of Transport (Marius Skuodis) and his Ukrainian counterpart met in Klaipeda and discussed cooperation between the countries in the transport sector and possible new projects.
The countries have reiterated their intent to strengthen cooperation in the areas of railway and transport digitalisation, as well as to increase the capacity potential of the seaports of both countries.
During the study visit, the Ukrainian Minister was introduced to the opportunities and capacity of Klaipeda State Seaport and JSC Lithuanian Railways.
Speaking figuratively, to have a passenger stop at your station, you have to make certain things attractive – be it the route, the service and et cetera. The same applies to ports.
Some of the countries that we eye working with, like Kazakhstan, Turkey or above-mentioned Ukraine, may seem to be too far, but, under certain circumstances, to draw a parallel with the comparison of the station, their companies do find the Port of Klaipeda very attractive.
Klaipeda Seaport has announced plans of 400-million-euro investments into the port's infrastructure by 2024. What will be done?
Indeed, in the next 4 years, it is planned to invest around 400 million euros in the Port of Klaipeda.
It is planned to allocate more than a half of these funds to the expansion of the harbourage, the repair and construction of quays and the reconstruction of wave breakers. The latter will improve the security of maritime transport and contribute to the implementation of environmental measures.
The implementation of the projects will grant a qualitative advantage to the port. Such plans have been set in the strategic operational plan approved by the State Enterprise Klaipeda State Seaport Authority, which operates the port.
Amid the changing market, the port's infrastructure must be constantly oriented toward the improvement of the capacity of the port and the security of maritime transport.
The evident global tendencies clearly show that to ensure the effectiveness of the shipping business we need to accommodate larger ships.
In fact, the tendency can be clearly observed at the Port of Klaipeda too: the average capacity of the ships that come to the Port of Klaipeda increased by 35 percent throughout 2015–2020.
Work for dredging the shipping channel was started at the beginning of this year. If the depth of the shipping channel from the northern part of the port to the Gulf of Malkų is increased up to 15 metres and the permissible draught is increased up to 13.8 metres, the vessels coming to the port will be able to carry more goods and this will decrease the expenses of shipping cargo.
During the scheduled period, it is also planned to expand the port area up to 70 hectares.
Synergy of the state and the port is key in ensuring efficient and viable development of the Klaipeda port.
We aim to develop the port constantly thinking about the added values it creates for all businesses – be it the expansion of the activities of the shipyard situated in the port, building a new modern dock for ship repairs or building a facility to assemble wind power farms, which someday may show up in the sea.
In a word, the added value would be created not through expanding the stevedoring capabilities, but through the new, marine-relevant economic activities, which would also mean more jobs, more tax-payers and et cetera.


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In 1998, two graduate students at Stanford University, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, developed "Backrub", a search engine that relied on a mathematical algorithm to rate the prominence of web pages. The number calculated by the algorithm, PageRank, is a function of the quantity and strength of inbound links.[22] PageRank estimates the likelihood that a given page will be reached by a web user who randomly surfs the web, and follows links from one page to another. In effect, this means that some links are stronger than others, as a higher PageRank page is more likely to be reached by the random web surfer.
Creating high quality content takes a significant amount of at least one of the following: time, effort, expertise, and talent/skill. Content should be factually accurate, clearly written, and comprehensive. So, for example, if you describe your page as a recipe, provide a complete recipe that is easy to follow, rather than just a set of ingredients or a basic description of the dish.
Affiliate Marketing: Affiliate marketing is one of the oldest forms of marketing, and the internet has brought new life to this old stand-by. With affiliate marketing, you promote other people's products, and you get a commission every time you make a sale or introduce a lead. Many well-known companies like Amazon have affiliate programs that pay out millions of dollars per month to websites that sell their products.
Organic SEO's flip-side offers up a paid method for marketing on search engines like Google. SEM provides an avenue for displaying ads through networks such as Google's Adwords and other paid search platforms that exist across the web throughout social media sites like Facebook, Instagram and even video sites like YouTube, which, invariably, is the world's second largest search engine.
Quality content is more likely to get shared. By staying away from creating "thin" content and focusing more on content that cites sources, is lengthy and it reaches unique insights, you'll be able to gain Google's trust over time. Remember, this happens as a component of time. Google knows you can't just go out there and create massive amounts of content in a few days. If you try to spin content or duplicate it in any fashion, you'll suffer a Google penalty and your visibility will be stifled.
While most search engine companies try to keep their processes a secret, their criteria for high spots on SERPs isn't a complete mystery. Search engines are successful only if they provide a user links to the best Web sites related to the user's search terms. If your site is the best skydiving resource on the Web, it benefits search engines to list the site high up on their SERPs. You just have to find a way to show search engines that your site belongs at the top of the heap. That's where search engine optimization (SEO) comes in -- it's a collection of techniques a webmaster can use to improve his or her site's SERP position.
Search engines find and catalog web pages through spidering (also known as webcrawling) software. Spidering software "crawls" through the internet and grabs information from websites which is used to build search engine indexes. Unfortunately, not all search engine spidering software works the same way, so what gives a page a high ranking on one search engine may not necessarily give it a high ranking on another. Note that rather than waiting for a search engine to discover a newly created page, web designers can submit the page directly to search engines for cataloging.
Optimizing a website may involve editing its content, adding content, modifying HTML, and associated coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords and to remove barriers to the indexing activities of search engines.[citation needed] Promoting a site to increase the number of backlinks, or inbound links, is another SEO tactic. By May 2015, mobile search had surpassed desktop search.[3]
Social media can be used not only as public relations and direct marketing tools but also as communication channels targeting very specific audiences with social media influencers and social media personalities and as effective customer engagement tools.[15] Technologies predating social media, such as broadcast TV and newspapers can also provide advertisers with a fairly targeted audience, given that an ad placed during a sports game broadcast or in the sports section of a newspaper is likely to be read by sports fans. However, social media websites can target niche markets even more precisely. Using digital tools such as Google Adsense, advertisers can target their ads to very specific demographics, such as people who are interested in social entrepreneurship, political activism associated with a particular political party, or video gaming. Google Adsense does this by looking for keywords in social media user's online posts and comments. It would be hard for a TV station or paper-based newspaper to provide ads that are this targeted (though not impossible, as can be seen with "special issue" sections on niche issues, which newspapers can use to sell targeted ads).
Search engines are a powerful channel for connecting with new audiences. Companies like Google and Bing look to connect their customers with the best user experience possible. Step one of a strong SEO strategy is to make sure that your website content and products are the best that they can be. Step 2 is to communicate that user experience information to search engines so that you rank in the right place. SEO is competitive and has a reputation of being a black art. Here's how to get started the right way. Get Started
Apple's iPhone 5c: Created a Tumblr page, labeling it "Every color has a story" with the website name: "ISee5c". As soon as you visit the website, the page is covered with different colors representing the iPhone 5c phone colors and case colors. When you click on one of the colored section, a 15-second video plays a song and "showcases the dots featured on the rear of the iPhone 5c official cases and on the iOS 7 dynamic wallpapers...",[74] concluding with words that are related to the video's theme.
Having a different description meta tag for each page helps both users and Google, especially in searches where users may bring up multiple pages on your domain (for example, searches using the site: operator). If your site has thousands or even millions of pages, hand-crafting description meta tags probably isn't feasible. In this case, you could automatically generate description meta tags based on each page's content.
If you own, manage, monetize, or promote online content via Google Search, this guide is meant for you. You might be the owner of a growing and thriving business, the webmaster of a dozen sites, the SEO specialist in a Web agency or a DIY SEO ninja passionate about the mechanics of Search : this guide is meant for you. If you're interested in having a complete overview of the basics of SEO according to our best practices, you are indeed in the right place. This guide won't provide any secrets that'll automatically rank your site first in Google (sorry!), but following the best practices outlined below will hopefully make it easier for search engines to crawl, index and understand your content.
On October 17, 2002, SearchKing filed suit in the United States District Court, Western District of Oklahoma, against the search engine Google. SearchKing's claim was that Google's tactics to prevent spamdexing constituted a tortious interference with contractual relations. On May 27, 2003, the court granted Google's motion to dismiss the complaint because SearchKing "failed to state a claim upon which relief may be granted."[68][69]
Marketing automation is an integral platform that ties all of your digital marketing together. Without it, your campaigns will look like an unfinished puzzle with a crucial missing piece. Marketing automation software streamlines and automates marketing tasks and workflows. Most importantly, it measures the results and ROI of your digital campaigns, helping you to grow revenue faster.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Susu Restaurant is hidden treasure of Vietnamese food in the center of Beijing. It serves the best Vietnamese food in town.
Why Susu Restaurant is special ?
Susu is set within a renovated old courtyard home and named for a squash. Their young chefs from Vietnam craft a mix of rustic and innovative cuisine to match the surroundings. Zesty spring rolls and salads, comforting clay pots, and seasonal creations offset a carefully chosen list of wines and house cocktails shaken with homemade bitters and syrups. Susu is open for lunch and dinner, drinks in-between, and slow-simmering pho and fresh rolls all day long. Lunch and dinner reservations are recommended.
Dont forget to make a reservation for a courtyard table.
Don't forget to have a Vietnamese coffee after your meal.
There is a choice of seating, based on the weather, so you can dine upstairs on the rooftop, down in the patio, or inside, in the upscale interior.
To find it, make sure you study the map or bring a GPS. It is not that hard to find but better to prepare!
It's really quite impressive entering this place. You can't believe it's down this dead end alley!
Ask for the fish sauce for fresh spring rolls. Only if you ask.
Go to Susu for delicious Vietnamese food and relaxing atmosphere. The staff is attentive and friendly, English language was a plus. The place is busy so definitely make a reservation.We tried green papaya and beef salad, fresh shrimp and pork rolls, classic fried folks. All we great, but to my surprise, fried rolls were outstanding. I was surprises as I always prefer fresh rolls. We have also ordered pho soup, Vietnamese classic and my favourite. The meat was good and tender, broth was lacking flavour a bit so need to let it "seat" for few minutes with herbs and chilly.Highly recommend for enjoyable meal and atmosphere.
If you want to experience a perfect setting of dining in the Hutongs then this meets the bill. The rooftop is lovely but there are only 2 tables and if you are lucky enough to snag one then do it. We got lucky as they had a cancellation. The offerings from the bar were not disappointing and there is enough selection to please people with varied taste. When it comes to the food it leaves a lot to be desired. Although touted as a Vietnamese restaurant it would be more appropriate to say its a Chinese version of a Vietnamese restaurant. On the pricy side for what you get and I would rate the food as being average at best. Service was definitely with a smile.Make reservations.
Way too expensive for the quality of the food. The springrolls were wonderfull but that was about it. Everything else tasted like something you might do yourself, lacking a lot of condiment and flavour. The noodles were absolutely vulgar. The restaurant is quite nice though, with a great decor and great patio!
Go to Susu for delicious Vietnamese food and relaxing atmosphere. The staff is attentive and friendly, English language was a plus. The place is busy so definitely make a reservation. We tried green papaya and beef salad, fresh shrimp and pork rolls, classic fried folks. All we great, but to my surprise, fried rolls were outstanding. I was surprises as I always prefer fresh rolls. We have also ordered pho soup, Vietnamese classic and my favourite. The meat was good and tender, broth was lacking flavour a bit so need to let it "seat" for few minutes with herbs and chilly. Highly recommend for enjoyable meal and atmosphere.
Little hidden treasure if you are looking for good Vietnam food in a nice ambience, food is average but come for the beautiful courtyard and old hutong renovated house.


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Chauliognathus lecontei is a species of soldier beetle in the family Cantharidae. It is found in North America.

References

Further reading

Cantharidae
Articles created by Qbugbot
Beetles described in 1914

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


SOLD "AS IS" ADDENDUM TO CONTRACT. 3 BEDROOM HOME LOCATED ON DEAD END STREET. FENCED IN BACKYARD. NEWER FURNACE AND WATER HEATER. 12X8 STORAGE SHED. 23X14 GARAGE.
2218 Boyce Place Ottawa, Illinois 61350 is a single family property, which sold for $104,600. 2218 Boyce Place has 3 bedroom(s) and 1 bath(s). Want to learn more about 2218 Boyce Place Ottawa, Illinois 61350? Contact an @properties agent to request more info.


Bennelong Australian Equity Partners (BAEP) has won the 'Australian Equities – Large Caps' Fund Manager of 2015 at the Professional Planner/Zenith Fund Awards, announced at a ceremony in Sydney on 9 October. BAEP beat fellow finalists Fidelity Investments and Lazard Asset Management to win the prestigious award.
The determination of the finalists is based on excellence in the application of a manager's investment philosophy and process according to Zenith Investment Partners' manager assessment methodology.
The team previously won the highly regarded industry award in the same category in 2012 and was a finalist in 2013. "This second win is a reflection of the continuing hard work put in by the team, and reflects strong and consistent outperformance over the years" said Julian Beaumont, BAEP's Investment Director.
Conexus Financial may terminate the licence to use the Professional Planner Zenith Fund Awards logo at any time upon written notice.


— To Mario Vargas Llosa, il miglior fabbro.
Walking through the narrow streets of an old Warsaw borough, I noticed a boy, staring at me from a lower- floor window.
He looked weary; and had soot on his cheeks. Nevertheless, he happily smiled at me and then waved good-bye, saying something in polish —"Rejs" was the only word I could then understand.
My instant thought: I was a fortunate passerby, rewarded handsomely with this incredible sight.
After waving back, I put my hands deep in my pockets again (it was bitterly cold) and went ahead, strolling without any purpose but to be there, in that scene, at that very moment, conjuring up and living a thousand lives at the same time.
Literature allows any of us to be that boy, or that passerby, in faraway Poland.


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NewsUpcoming Games
'Madden Mobile' Coming to the App Store August 26th
Posted on August 11, 2014 August 11, 2014 by Jared Nelson
The latest iteration of EA's flagship football series Madden NFL will be hitting consoles on August 26th, and on that same day a mobile version appropriately called Madden Mobile will be hitting the App Store as well. Madden Mobile promises an "all-new NFL experience" that "will allow fans to build a dominant team composed of the league's best talent from past and present." That experience will consist of running your favorite team through a 16 game season in pursuit of a playoff appearance and ultimately a Super Bowl win, facing off in head-to-head matches against friends, or partaking in one of EA's new Live Events. These Live Events will be "quick, fun challenges that will dynamically update throughout the season and beyond." In addition, the Live Events will offer rewards such as "player packs, coins, special players and more."
Unfortunately, there's no further details or visual assets for Madden Mobile, but historically the Madden franchise has had a rocky road on iOS. There's been a new yearly Madden game on mobile for the past several years now, and despite being stripped down from their console counterparts they started off as pretty good games. Then the release of Madden NFL 12 was so severely devoid of anything new that we literally copied and pasted the previous year's review for the new game. Things really hit rock bottom with last year's Madden release, which was called Madden NFL 25 and was a free to play trainwreck. I'm really hoping Madden Mobile can get back to offering mobile gamers a decent NFL football experience on the go, and it looks like we'll find out when August 26th rolls around.
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Q: Changing working directory in Xcode for all users It seems that Xcode stores an application's custom working directory in per-user settings. If I change the directory in Product -> Scheme -> Edit Scheme -> Options it is saved into a file called xcuserdata/myUserName.xcuserdatad/xcschemes/Program.xcscheme
How do I change it for all users, not just myself? I want to distribute an Xcode project with a custom running directory.

A: I think I found the solution: There is a checkbox called "shared" in the scheme management dialog. Somehow I missed it.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Maintaining a few foundational principles in workplace investigations can reduce the risk of litigation and compliment instead of erode employee relations. Let's explore a few of those areas.
Documenting employee relations issues is essential for consistently gathering the data you need to improve employee experience and lower organizational risk.
Conducting exit interviews with consistency is essential for gathering the data you need to improve employee retention and engagement. Learn more about the importance of exit interviews.


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Showing 1 to 4 of 4 events.
The event will be held in Southend Central Museum, Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, SS2 6EW, and is Free Entry to attend.
The London exhibits finds from the London shipwreck, a 17th Century Cromwellian warship that mysteriously exploded in the Thames Estuary in 1665.
The event will be held in Various, and is Free to attend.
Southend Libraries and The Reading Agency will be launching Reading Ahead, the scheme for adults age 16+ in all Southend Libraries on 7th January 2019.
The event will be held in Focal Point Gallery, The Forum, Elmer Square, Southend-on-Sea, SS1 1NB, and is Free to attend.
Focal Point Gallery is delighted to announce an ambitious new sound commission by the artist and musician Mark Fell.
The event will be held in Beecroft Gallery, Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, SS2 6EX, and is Free to attend.
Photographer Nathalie Daoust's newest project, Korean Dreams, is a complex series that probes the unsettling vacuity of North Korea.
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Hart Crowser, Inc. is currently seeking a Project Geologist for our Environmental Services Division in Portland. The position will focus on assessing, investigating, and remediating contaminated sites in Oregon. Work will involve conducting projects with Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) staff under Hart Crowser's contract with DEQ as well as projects for a diverse private and public client base. Responsibilities include technical and report development, and project management.
Required Education: Bachelor's degree in geology, including and emphasis on environmental disciplines.
7+ years related professional experience in relevant areas.
Direct knowledge of the Oregon cleanup program, including Oregon law and regulations, and interaction with DEQ staff.
Experience on projects ranging from Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (per ASTM and AAI standards) to more complex cleanup projects.
Interaction with subcontractors, including obtaining quotes, overseeing their work, and invoice review.
Strong writing skills are a must (a writing sample will be requested).
Experience conducting environmental investigations, remediation, and regulatory compliance under broader environmental cleanup regulations including CERCLA, TSCA, and RCRA. Knowledge of Washington MTCA may be useful as well.
Skills in a related environmental practice area, such as sediment investigation, risk assessment, and mine cleanup/closure.
Conducting marketing and business development activities with potential clients, identifying and pursuing new project opportunities.
Serving as a Task Order Manager for DEQ projects and project manager for other clients.
Providing work assignments and performance reviews to ensure the efficient cost-effective utilization of staff.
Supporting existing client relationships through proactive communication, coordination, and technical project work in area of expertise.
Conducting fieldwork when needed to provide expertise or oversight for the successful completion of projects.
As a condition of employment, the successful candidate must be able to provide documentation of eligibility to work in the US. Hart Crowser has a strong commitment to provide an environment that fosters creative thinking and opportunities for professional development. As an employee-owned company, each individual contributes to the success of the firm. Interested candidates are encouraged to submit their confidential cover letter and resume via our Careers page at www.hartcrowser.com.


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Latest Reviews Xbox Games Reviews
WWE 2K19 Review
March 12, 2019 admin 0 Comments 2K19, Review, WWE
WWE 2K19 is an outstanding example of how yearly releases should be done. As I sit here writing this review, all I can think about is getting back to in-game to carry on throwing fools around the squared-circle. While the list of new additions are just enough to fill a sheet of toilet paper, that's okay, because instead 2K has opted to focus on the most important F-word in gaming: Fun. It's charming, engaging, and often times daft. In that way, it's just like the real thing.
This year's Showcase mode centres around Daniel Bryan and is easily the most relevant mode we've seen in the series to date. Fans were heartbroken when Bryan, having been released twice and suffering numerous injuries, was forced to retire before his time. The Return of Daniel Bryan puts players in his boots, as an unknown wrestler facing John Cena on Velocity, to his second release for going off-script (read: choking an announcer), all the way to his world title wins and, as the name of the mode suggest, his return after being given the all-clear from the doctors. It's a heart-warming tale of adversity and never giving up on your dreams, regardless of how many mountains you need to climb.
Rather than every match being a standard affair, each has its own conditions that need to be met. These may include thwacking an opponent with a standing strike, perform an OMG moment, or legging it to the backstage area to attempt to murder your opponent. Typical wrestling stuff then.
This adds to the matches while convincing the player they're acting out something that happened. At times, when you execute certain sequences, the game will take over and play out the larger scenes without any input. It's kind of like you're watching a simulated version of the match you're emulating. It's also worth taking a moment to appreciate the level of effort that goes into the exceptional motion capture when the game takes control. Bryan has the right lightness to his faster moves, Triple H has that sturdy, oppressive movement. Even Kane has the right slow-moving methodology. Every wrestler moves exactly how you'd expect them to, which keeps the immersion going without ever bursting the virtual bubble.
Related: Upcoming Xbox One Games
Moving on, it wouldn't be a WWE 2K game without the option to create a superstar, and this year is no different. The usual create options feel more streamlined. Everything you need is just a few clicks away. Lag when previewing certain items is at an all-time low, and create-a-superstar animations now appear to mask smaller loading sections.
One of the new features this time around is the introduction of Minecraft bodies. They're referred to as 'Block Bodies' in-game, but c'mon, they're Minecraft bodies. I'm certain online wrestling purists will lament the idea of having 8-bit wrestlers in a wrestling sim. I think it works, though. Fite me. As I mentioned earlier, wrestling is daft (undead cowboy!), so having blocky bodies fighting realistic superstars doesn't look that odd. As for the customisation aspect, the blocky bodies become flat-packed like a cardboard box, and can then be drawn on. It sounds like it should be complex, right? But it's all strangely intuitive. I managed to make me, complete with a Binding of Isaac T-shirt, in around 10 minutes, proving you don't need to be talented in the slightest to be able to utilise the new options to create something semi-decent.
This year's My Player storyline left me pondering something as I loaded up the first chapter. How many times can fans play through 'Rags to WWE Superstar,' before it becomes stale? How many times have we done this dance already? Will this time be any different? It turns out, yeah, actually, it is. Who saw that coming? Early on you get the WWE try-out contract, only to have it unceremoniously ripped away. It's then back to the bingo halls with five people in the crowd as you try to uncover who sabotaged you and why in this often laugh out loud funny, hokey romp.
The other main event attraction in 2K19 is the introduction of Towers. If you've ever played Mortal Kombat, you'll have a good idea of what these entail. Each tower has its own difficulty setting, with rewards increasing depending on how well you perform. There's nothing groundbreaking here, but as an option to give players more to do, it's a solid addition.
Despite how much WWE 2K19 gets right, it's not without its flaws. Smaller issues like using a hot-pink square to highlight create items, on a white background, end up grating as it's near impossible to see, and results in frequently losing track of what it is you're trying to highlight. Then there's the voice acting. While Daniel Bryan seems thrilled to be telling his story, other voiceovers feel lifeless. Triple H, who has been in actual movies I might add, sounds dead inside. And not in the Undertaker way. Even Braun Strowman, whose whole schtick revolves around deep grunting, comes across like his bus is due any minute and wants out of the sound booth ASAP. I even had an odd moment where the AI decided to climb the turnbuckle, drop down, climb again, drop down, then climb once more before finally launching into a move that missed — though AI issues, for me, were few and far between.
None of the aforementioned issues are deal-breakers, of course, but when the gameplay, the online, the creation suite are all so tight, it's a shame when you're pulled out of the action because of minor irritants.
WWE 2K19 doesn't reinvent the wheel, nor does it try to. It takes the gameplay of previous year's and refines it. It adds to the create-a modes. It captivates with meaningful storylines. And with the introduction of Towers and tying the online with the My Player modes, it offers something that will keep fans happy for the next year. Yeah, sure, it's not perfect, but when you open a review with how much you can't wait to get back to playing it, you know you're on to a winner.
The post WWE 2K19 Review appeared first on Trusted Reviews.
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View Poll Results: What's ya favourite drink??
Thread: What's your favourite drink?
Just wondering what most of you indulge in!?
doesn't this sort of thread belong elsewhere?
Pernod with Ribena topped up with water. Failing that Glenfiddich Malt & water.
WTF isn't Gin on this list?
Pernod with Ribena topped up with water.
Pernod and black? Do you top it up with water? I never used to. Tastes like Veno's cough mixture. I used to love it (P&B). One night I got really pissed on it and ended up puking all over my arm while I was in bed (hadn't eaten anything, so just liquid). I was so pissed that when I saw all that dark red, I thought I was bleeding to death & couldn't figure out where from.
There's a complete difference with the Ribena. I dislike it with ordinary blackcurrent juice.
Pernod mixed with Jim Beam is nice.
I like Regency and it's Brandy.
Errrmmm... with ice and soda please.
Laphroaig whisky, if that's not availible then any kind of lager will do, as long as its cold..
A nice hot cup of tea is my favorite tipple but only at home.


I've recently been reminded, after a busy few weeks of meetings, just how powerful face-to-face meetings really are. The energy that exudes from people is infectious. Extremely engaging conversations around a table have motivated me to want to leave and do big things (all the meetings have been positive of course!).
Nothing, even social media and the most slickest of technology platforms, will replace the spark that is created in face-to-face meetings.
What is the quote? "The path to gaining respect is paved with knowledge and empathy."
I also love how people around the table act as catalysts of inspiration for others. Hearing others share their ideas so passionately both through their words, their body language and their voice in person gets at me in a different way then watching people over a device for a meeting.
You can see it in people's aggressive head nods or that glimmer in their eye when you're discussing a topic, idea or issue that has really moved the table. The meetings I've been at recently, we've been able to productivity talk through issues, come up with solutions and brainstorm new ideas. These are things that are hard to do online when you're on a Skype call or teleconference line, where you feel isolated.
It was one of those 'ah-ha' moments.
I was reminded in the moment that you don't have to be a millennial to think young (yes, there are baby boomers out there who are forward thinking and young at heart, millennials!). Social media couldn't have provided that type of moment for me to learn and understand from someone like this. It was a brilliant thought from someone who clearly had years of experience and wisdom.
I realize technology allows for more convenience, especially from the comfort of your own home or office desk, but the next time you have the option, seriously consider bringing your team in or suggesting face-to-face.
Yes, meetings be long, feel daunting (while your emails pile up!) and something we all sometimes dread, especially if the moderator or Chair doesn't run an effective meeting by staying on time and on task with agenda items #petpeeve, but I guarantee, almost every time afterwards, you'll feel good about the shared energy that came from a positive and productive face-to-face meeting.
Do you ever read someone's tweet that is getting a lot of attention or hear an idea your colleague has shared in a meeting and think... I already thought that?!
You came up with that same idea or thought days earlier or even months/years ago, yet you didn't do anything with that said idea or tweet?
You wonder why the hell you didn't speak up earlier, tweet the thought out or share your idea so you could get the praise that someone else is now getting?
Yup, it happens to all of us.
What is the difference from you did with the idea/thought and what the other person did? They actually DID something with it. They took action. Spoke up. Stepped out of the comfortable into the uncomfortable to see where the idea or thought would land, unsure if it would ruffle feathers or land well with others.
We're all capable of thinking big things. There isn't a copyright on coming up with new thoughts or ideas. Unless of course, someone has patented the idea and then well, you've out of luck. I'm sure some of the best inventions were thought of way before they actually were invented. Like Otto Frederick Rohwedder of Iowa who in 1912 actually DID something with an idea and thought that slicing bread was a genius, convenient idea that would be the next big thing... and of course it sure was. Its why we continue to use the phrase, 'The greatest thing since sliced bread."
I've been experiencing this on Twitter lately where so many of my tweets are sitting in my draft folder, doing what? Nothing. And I wonder why I didn't share them if others are talking about things I had thought of tweeting about ages ago.
It makes me think about my #Blog452 goal I set earlier this year for my blog. It hasn't been an epic fail but I certainly haven't stuck to my commitment of blogging each week for 52 weeks of this year.
Where am I? 34 posts this year. So if we were evaluating this like a calculus test that you need to pass to get into University, I would have got a 65%. A pass but not great.
Today's lesson on the blog - Talk is cheap. Its what you actually DO with your ideas and thoughts and the action you take that will separate you from the rest of the crowd.
What is my goal now for the rest of 2017? See if I can fulfill this damn #Blog452 goal I created for myself because what's the point of creating a goal if you're not going to stick to try and fulfill it?


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Femke Gremmelprez
This article belongs to the debate » Judges saving Judges
The legal vs. political route to rule of law enforcement
Considering the CJEU's judgment in the Associação Sindical dos Juìzes Portugueses, it is highly expected that the CJEU will follow the Advocate General's opinion in C-619/18 and, consequently, rule that the Polish national measures lowering the retirement age of the Supreme Court judges and granting the President of Poland the discretion to extend the active service of a judge after his retirement age are not in compliance with the principle of judicial independence pursuant Art. 19(1) TEU. Such an outcome would affect the current rule of law discourse on three grounds. First of all, it might exert pressure on the Council to finally act in respect of the Art. 7(1) TEU procedure against Poland. Secondly and more likely, the prospect of pecuniary sanctions in light of an Art. 260 TFEU procedure would create an incentive for Poland to (partially) redress the situation. And lastly, yet more importantly, the effective functioning of the preliminary ruling procedure could be endangered.
The Council under pressure
A confirmed failure to fulfil the obligations under Art. 19(1) TEU by Poland will first of all substantiate the Commission's observations set forth in the reasoned proposal initiating Art. 7(1) TEU against Poland. Nevertheless, the process for the establishment of this proposal was heavily criticised by the Polish government for fragrantly violating the principles of objectivity and national sovereignty. Surprisingly, the Polish government recognised the competence of the CJEU pursuant Art. 19(1) TEU, preferring the legal route over the political dialogue on the basis of Art. 7(1) TEU. Notably, this statement precedes the Associação Sindical dos Juìzes Portugueses judgment and its ground-breaking outcome. On the basis of this judgment, Art. 19(1) TEU serves as a verifiable criterion to challenge national measures related to the functioning of the judiciary, in contrast to the probably anticipated infringement procedures against Hungary (See Scheppele, Making Infringement Procedures More Effective).
An established infringement of the principle of judicial independence, as the core element of the rule of law, should be a sign for the Council to finally act upon its proclaimed responsibilities under Art. 7(1) TEU, instead of its inaction in this regard and its repeated obstruction of the Commission's work related to rule of law enforcement up till now (See Scheppele and Pech, Never Missing an Opportunity to Miss an Opportunity: The Council Legal Service Opinion on the Commission's EU budget-related rule of law mechanism). Art. 7(1) TEU provides for the Council the possibility to determine a clear risk of a serious breach with a four-fifths majority. Yet, not much has happened since the Commission's initiation of Art. 7(1) TEU against Poland on the 20th of December 2017, except for a disappointing dialogue without tangible results. To date, the Council held in the framework of Art. 7(1) TEU three hearings built upon a peer review exercise, during which the Commission and Poland set forward their observations regarding the main concerns and the other Member States raised questions. The mere conclusion of the Council was, however, to return to the discussions during the next Council Meeting, which is, then, depending on the Commission's persistent incitement to have, yet, another hearing on the Polish situation. Besides this incitement, no task is left for the Commission in the framework of Art. 7(1) TEU. Hence, the Council should, in turn, finally take its competence under Art. 7(1) TEU seriously and move from the preliminary stage of Art. 7(1) TEU to the determination of a clear risk of a serious breach, which is the ultimate purpose of Art. 7(1) TEU. This entails that the Council needs to start the voting procedure on the basis of the documentation delivered by the Commission in the context of the EU Rule of Law Framework and the judgment. This information provides sufficient evidence for the determination of a clear risk of a serious breach under Art. 7(1) TEU. Attaining the required four-fifths majority pursuant Art. 7(1) TEU might be realisable, in contrast to the determination of a serious and persistent breach, which requires unanimity pursuant Art. 7(2) TEU. However, the political reality makes such a u vote unattainable, since Hungary is also facing an Art. 7(1) TEU procedure. Yet, the Council should bear in mind that the effective application of EU law is, after all, an essential component of the rule of law.
The incentive of pecuniary sanctions
More importantly, the establishment of an infringement of Art. 19(1) TEU would mean that the Commission has recourse to Art. 260 TFEU in case Poland fails to comply with the judgment, entailing that the CJEU can impose pecuniary sanctions in the form of a lump sum or a penalty payment. Especially with regard to the order of the CJEU in the Białowieża case establishing penalty payments in case Poland did not comply with the interim measures and Poland's reaction as a consequence thereof, the prospect of potential pecuniary sanctions seems to produce an incentive to adhere to the CJEU's decision. Moreover, the reaction of Poland on the interim measures requested by the Commission already sheds light on the possible reaction on the definitive judgment. The Commission seemingly learned lessons from the Commission v. Hungary case and tried to retain a status quo in the formation of Supreme Court judges before too much damage was done. The requested interim measures adopted by the Vice President of the CJEU in the Order of 19 October 2018 (and confirmed by the CJEU in the Order of 17 December 2018) led to the amendment of the Supreme Court Act, reinstating the retirement age of judges at the age of 70 years.
The compliance with such a judgment can, however, not be seen apart from the other pending infringement actions against Poland. Full compliance with this judgment will as such not solve the overall rule of law crisis as it exists nowadays in Poland. Yet, partial restoration of the rule of law backsliding, in particular with regard to the attacks on the Supreme Court via the lowering of the retirement age and the margin of discretionary power in hands of the President of Poland in extending the retirement age, could be expected. Similar outcomes in the other pending infringement cases would entail restoration of the lowering of the retirement age of ordinary courts and of the disciplinary regime which are endangering the independence of judiciary. Although the result cannot be overestimated, it is fair to say that the compliance with these judgments would produce more effects than the political dialogue in the context of the EU Rule of Law Framework of the Commission, the Rule of Law Dialogue of the Council, and the Art. 7(1) TEU procedure have induced.
Yet, a danger for the functioning of the preliminary ruling procedure?
Notwithstanding these potential positive effects following from the infringement procedure, one important caveat has to be raised with regard to the relationship between the judicial independence and the preliminary ruling procedure under Art. 267 TFEU. Indeed, the dialogue between the national judiciary and the CJEU established in the framework of the preliminary ruling procedure as enshrined in Art. 267(2) and (3) TFEU can only be realised in case the court referring a preliminary question can be qualified as a court or tribunal in the sense of Art. 267 TFEU. This entails that the court or tribunal should comply with the criteria, amongst other things that the body is established by law, it is permanent, its jurisdiction is compulsory, its procedure is inter partes, it applies rules of law, and – the most essential element in this respect – that the body is independent. Moreover, the CJEU has explicitly clarified in its order of 17 December 2019 (para. 66) that:
"The independence of national courts and tribunals is, in particular, essential to the proper working of the judicial cooperation system embodied by the preliminary ruling mechanism under Article 267 TFEU (…) that mechanism may be activated only by a body responsible for applying EU law which satisfies, inter alia, that criterion of independence".
Consequently, the conclusion that the Member State has failed to fulfil its obligation under Art. 19(1) TEU, namely failed to guarantee that its courts and tribunals meet the requirement of effective judicial protection, the very essence of which is the principle of judicial independence, entails that this court or tribunal is no longer independent and, thus, can no longer be qualified as a court or tribunal in the sense of EU law in order to refer preliminary questions under Art. 267 TFEU. This reasoning would have tremendous implications for the Polish Supreme Court, especially in light of the preliminary questions posed by this court, as it would no longer be able to refer preliminary questions to the CJEU as the highest court of the Polish judiciary.
In the end, this is exactly what the Polish government tries to achieve by adopting the new disciplinary regime, namely avoiding the judicial interference of the CJEU in the form of preliminary references as a consequence of the possibility for judges to be subjected to disciplinary proceedings for the content of their judicial decisions. Paradoxically, the Polish government is even instigating disciplinary proceedings against the judges who referred questions on the compatibility of this disciplinary regime with EU law, confirming the European Commission's fear.
Such a reasoning should, however, be avoided, since the preliminary reference procedure under Art. 267 TFEU is the cornerstone of the judicial system established on the basis of Art. 19(1) TEU to ensure the autonomy of EU law. In case it would be argued that the preliminary questions posed by a court, targeted by the national measures eliminating its independence and impartiality, are inadmissible for the above-mentioned reasons, this court should a fortiori be able to use its fullest discretion to pose questions to the CJEU in order to ensure the consistency, uniformity, effectiveness and autonomy of EU law, the core characteristics upon which the EU is built (paras. 109-111 of opinion 1/17). Indeed, the fact that these courts want to refer questions concerning the compatibility of the contested national measures, contends the independence and the impartiality of that particular judge posing questions, as it is opposing the intended pressure by the government, facing disciplinary proceedings. Moreover, it shows the needed willingness of the judiciary of a rule of law backsliding Member State to fight against this backslide and the remaining hope in the 'legal route' of rule of law enforcement by the CJEU, when the political route has reached or is close in nearing deadlock.
A good start is half the job
It can, therefore, be expected that a confirmed breach of the principle of judicial independence would resort in action of Poland to (partially) restore the rule of law backsliding. This – hopefully achieved – result should, however, not detract from the fact that a permanent monitoring of all the Member States, comparable to the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism for Bulgaria and Romania, should be established in order to review the actions of the Member States in relation to the rule of law. This monitoring, firstly, needs to lead to an objective and on evidence based alarm-system in the case of potential rule of law breaches at the earliest stage possible and, secondly, to effective action from the EU-institutions.
LICENSED UNDER CC BY NC ND
SUGGESTED CITATION Gremmelprez, Femke: The legal vs. political route to rule of law enforcement, VerfBlog, 2019/5/29, https://verfassungsblog.de/the-legal-vs-political-route-to-rule-of-law-enforcement/, DOI: 10.17176/20190708-143716-0.
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CJEU, Poland, Rule of Law, judicial independence
Femke Gremmelprez Femke Gremmelprez is Academic assistant and PhD researcher at the Ghent European Law Institute
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Living with Dragons | One man's adventure mapping Durham and beyond, not knowing what lurks round the corner.
One man's adventure mapping Durham and beyond, not knowing what lurks round the corner.
Posted on Wednesday, June 27th, 2018 by Gregory Marler.
A few months again, I promised (to myself) to share slides I use when giving talks about OpenStreetMap. The idea is to help other people with resources and inspiration to talk about OpenStreetMap themselves. I present in my own style, which includes simplistic slides that I add verbal overlay to. So to maintain some value, I had to fix my computer to get the slide notes function, spend some time remembering what my visual prompt means, before realising the Slideshare website doesn't look at the notes bit of the file anyway. After all that, it seems better to try uploading some of them as files here.
27th June Mapathon, Newcastle Hosted in a cafe, with medical academics and doctors.
I'll either update this, or make a new post with slides from other talks. It would be really nice if you let me know that these are useful. A few of my images or ideas have come from other speakers over the years (thanks Pete, Harry, and anyone I've forgotten).
I'm a board member of OSM UK giving up my time voluntarily, but I absolutely love doing this. If you'd like me to talk to a group you know, or an event you're running, then get in touch! If I can't make it, then I'll be able to help you find someone else.
This entry was posted in Living with Dragons and tagged OSMUK, slides, talk on June 27, 2018 by Gregory Marler.
Posted on Monday, January 8th, 2018 by Gregory Marler.
For a number of years, State of the Map(SotM) has been able to provide scholarship funds to ensure more people attend the global conference. Finding people that might otherwise miss out on our community face-to-face event is not a problem, last year we had over a hundred applications and we were able to bring 15 of those to Japan.
Finding our way in Aizuwakamatsu, Japan.
The submitted applications go to into a spreadsheet, and an interested subset of the SotM team (with some invited guests) try to each read as much of it as we can. If the applicant says they submitted a talk, then we try to match it to the talk proposal so we can see if that's something we're hoping to have on the schedule.
As we read through the applications, we each give a quick score out of 4. Our lowest scores are for entries that are errors, off-topic, or don't seem to stand out against other delegates. Our higher scores are where they seem to be someone that would benefit from SotM and also might add to the event atmosphere or content. Maybe we've heard of the applicant already, or followed a link to see what they're involved in and it's got us excited to see them at SotM. It's a lot of reading, and so short clear answers – even with bullet points – really helps us.
While scoring, we also leave some one-word reasons to help jog-our memory when we later have meetings to discuss the final choices. Top applicants included people who were from minority groups or locations and also had something to say about that. We didn't just care about OpenStreetMap edits, but we also rated wiki documenters and community trainers. If they missed out on a scholarship in previous years, that's good to know. If they've come into OpenStreetMap from a different culture or industry, that can be an inspiring insight to hear. There's also comments made as to whether we think they will write or tell about SotM and the conversations they have, will more people get the benefit for the cost of 1 person attending?
We also have to consider how likely it is they can get a visa to the country SotM is in. As primarily volunteers, we are limited in how we can help this and it's a sad truth that some of our most-valued community members won't be able to make it due to political limitations. This is one of the reasons the conference tries to move around so much, and we hope there will be different years people can attend.
Lastly, we have to look at the wider picture. We don't want 15 people from one country, or 15 that focus in a certain subset of OpenStreetMap. Nor do we want a minority group to only be represented at the conference by funded places. We'll try to look at who we're selecting and keep it varied. This is done over a couple of phone call meetings, with the team bringing in their own knowledge/reading of applicants or their projects.
We usually end up with a round 1 choice of scholarships. Should we get enough conference sponsorship in time to arrange travel for further scholars, we have our extra choices at the stand by. It takes a good amount of time, and there's always some you wish you could add to the list, but it's very rewarding in the whole. Last year was particularly nice as I saw the scholars enjoy their visit and their opportunities to meet OpenStreetMappers around the world and to share their experiences. I'll be intrigued to see what happens this year.
Note: The 2018 call for scholars (application form) is due to be open within a month. I'll add a link here when it does, but you should got to the State of the Map website and subscribe to the newsletter updates!
This entry was posted in Living with Dragons and tagged Japan, scholars, sotm, sotm17, State of the Map on January 8, 2018 by Gregory Marler.
Where is OpenStreetMap in 2017?
Posted on Wednesday, October 18th, 2017 by Gregory Marler.
At events I often get asked, "Gregory, what's the big subject or latest thing for OpenStreetMap this year?". I tried to cover this when I spoke at GeoData 2017 last Thursday, although perhaps I tried to cover too many other subjects. So here's my answer in blog form, your mileage/answers may vary.
Continuing to affect lives – I put this here to cover a range of topics that I struggle to keep hold off. You've got thousands of people doing humanitarian mapping, with also deprived and mis/under-represented communities creating maps and using them to improve their situation. HOT, WheelMap, and others continue to do brilliant work.
Staff Mappers – often called "paid mappers" this is currently a heated and controversial topic. But it's something that needs and should be thought about. OpenStreetMap is amazing because while companies like Mapbox and Facebook could legally take a copy of the database and then tidy it up, it's actually set-up to encourage them to contribute their improvements directly to the same database we use. These companies have and are dedicated resources to have whole "OSM departments", so it would be silly to scare them away with nasty attitudes.
Studying diversity and focus – academic research of OpenStreetMap has moved on from simply trying to measure completeness and accuracy. Now a number of studies have been done, or are in progress, as to what diversity there is in the voluntary project and what are they interested in mapping? It could be a moving target, as new groups of mappers form and demographics change in relation to where/how those groups start.
The season of the Local Chapters has begun – this is the big thing and something that might have been foreseen or desired by people as early as 2006 when the OpenStreetMap Foundation was founded. Now there are a few local chapters, including for the UK, and it's really exciting where this will lead. Local chapters are a great way to say you support OpenStreetMap in your region and you want to see it's benefits promoted to others. Of course check out what their specific aims are, but they're all talking to each other through the OSMF "Advisory Board" and in-person meetings like the local chapters congress at SotM 2017. I really think this is a brilliant level of organisation, and of course it will be amazing to watch stuff happen from it but it also needs people to get involved and help out. People like you?
This entry was posted in Living with Dragons and tagged diversity, GeeoData, local chapters, OSMF, osmfuk, staff mappers, year review on October 18, 2017 by Gregory Marler.
What will/should a group for the UK do?
Posted on Saturday, March 4th, 2017 by Gregory Marler.
Promote and facilitate the use of OpenStreetMap data by individuals and organisations in the United Kingdom.
In 2007 the OpenStreetMap Foundation(OSMF) was incorporated as a UK company, to support the international OpenStreetMap project and run the services (hardware, website, etc) needed to do that. When individual countries setup their own organisations, and the concept of OSMF local chapters start to become formalised, the question has existed… should there be an organisation specifically for the UK, and what would one look like?
Around Summer 2015, Rob proposed the question again… "Do we want our own chapter/organisation?". There was a strong answer for yes, and to look closer at what it would be. After a lot of hard work and dedication, a non-profit company "OpenStreetMap United Kingdom CIC" was incorporated in December 2016. At the end of February we had an AGM to elect our 5 board members, of which I'm one. The organisation's Articles of Association state the 4 aims, but this could still lead to unlimited possibilities on what actions are to achieve it. An in-person meeting was held in Birmingham, open to all (members and non-members alike).
Improve and increase the size, skills, toolsets and cohesion of the OpenStreetMap community in the United Kingdom.
Promote and facilitate the release by organisations in the United Kingdom of data that is suitable for use in OpenStreetMap.
a lot of short-term and long-term ways we could achieve our aims, at least in part.
We took the 27 actions points (33 before merging duplicates), and cast votes on them. We were a small group, but it was great to see the desired priority from those that had gone through the 5-hours discussion. I'd encourage others in the UK OSM community to share your thoughts in the Loomio thread. We'll take some rest to dwell on those priorities, hopefully we can have people step forward to take the lead on helping them happen.
Increase the quality and quantity of data about the UK in OpenStreetMap.
It's an exciting start. It's not all about the board, and you really shouldn't look to them to do the work. Are you interested? Do you want to follow what's happening, and maybe help out? Please join the OSM UK mailing list, and even consider becoming a member.
This entry was posted in Living with Dragons and tagged Birmingham, OSMF, OSMUK, UK on March 4, 2017 by Gregory Marler.
Posted on Wednesday, September 28th, 2016 by Gregory Marler.
It might be unusual for OpenStreetMap and this book, but Muki Haklay is a name in the project that has been focused on GIS when I was only learning to talk. Thankfully he's not held back from doing non-standard courses, and that's probably as good for the really cool CASA department in UCL (where he's a professor) as it is for OpenStreetMap. Professor Haklay knows the academic scene, and I think it's really valuable to have that side on the OpenStreetMap interest. So I've tried to follow Muki's and CASA's work alot because it really looks fun and new what comes from them. There's always been a little bit of me wandering why Muki doesn't get in involved more with the OSM community and this book newly revealed to me why that was. He's taken a deliberate stance to not get deeply involved, for great reasons that only make me respect him more and be more interested in anything he blogs about or publishes. There's so much of intrigue into the project by reading the interview with Muki, that I'm struggling to sum up the topics here. Oh, and it was one of the few chapters I jumped to before reading the book start to finish, it didn't let me down.
At a similar time to me, Henk Hoff got involved in the project, and his city was similarly just a passing motorway as far as OpenStreetMap was concerend. This is a conversation about the early days. The small communities, limited tools and imagery sources, how a country's community grew, and the conflict with map companies who's turf we stepped on. Henk talks a lot about his move into the foundation and the OSM core community slowly growing to include folk outside of the UK. It's maybe right for him to talk in long swashes about OSMF and the State of the Map conferences, because Henk has been involved in them both for so many years, but it does make it difficult as a gentle read. Behind the scenes organisation of SotM conferences you have attended is why you might read this chapter.
Pavel Machalek is someone who heard about Steve's OSM but initially missed the boat (as many did) and returned to the scene next when they heard OSM was a big thing. It's one of the short interviews, so no further comment.
Everything is cool would sum up Mikel Maron's chapter and you might need a specialist glossary as many of the terms he uses go unexplained. He goes deeper into the subject of trying to teach mapping and to bring maps to places/people that haven't had any maps before. After that valuabe side of OpenStreetMap, this chapter goes into the topic of "Steve Coast, the great leader" including when Mikel and Steve weren't talking for a year.
How a large organisation (AOL's Mapquest) supports OSM is the main conversation with Randy Meech. There's a common question of how you can get money out of open data and open source, Randy attempts to tackle that subject. He also briefly touches the subject of imports and whether their good or bad, but maybe that needs to be done in live conversations to be of value. I noted that one of the questions isn't formated in bold, but thankfully I'm not listing all the times that the subediting cut corners/budget.
Ed Parsons – another of the chapters I first read, I should read it again with this blog post in mind.
Andy Robinson covers so much in his chat with Steve, lets jump in. How the core tags/schema came to be, a must read/know for mappers! He gives a positive view of the OSM volunteer force, and doesn't neglect the politics of OSM which then moves into Steve Coast and why he upsets people (oh yeah, it gets personal to the interviewer and editor). Andy has been such a valued part of the project despite living out of the major cities like London. He talks about the emotional benefit of visiting places for the puropse of OpenStreetMap. Also we should cover the reasons for setting up the OpenStreetMap Foundation (OSMF), and it couldn't be any less right for Andy to talk about that.
If there's only one "technical" chapter you'll read, make it Grant Slater's. Technical decisions, and ideological decisions affecting the technical position, but all talked about at a level for those that aren't programmers or system admins. He explains that volunteer time is far more costly than hardware costs. The best question of the book is "What's been the most fun thing to do", I'll leave Grant's answer in the book. Chatter shifts from technical to the license change and it's painful memories, along with very specialist software that was written for a rare one-time use. He even talks about the different characters that have fascinated him. Thank you Grant for being so friendly in-person and in this interview, the last two pages make a brilliant end to the book.
This entry was posted in Living with Dragons and tagged academic, Andy Robinson, Grant Slater, Henk Hoff, history, Mikel Maron, Muki Haklay, openstreetmap, OSMF, Pavel Machalek, Randy Meech, The Book of OSM on September 28, 2016 by Gregory Marler.


The transforming of a historic school building into a co-working and meeting space in Newport is wrapping up, with a May 1 opening on the books. Renovations to the Class A space, Innovate Newport, is in its final stages, sweeping up the dust, fine-tuning its programming and welcoming tenants. Tuni Schartner is the Innovate Newport director of entrepreneurship and innovation.
PBN: We saw Tom Jackman of Pezucco Construction on a video at the Innovate Newport Facebook page saying the renovation is 90% complete. There were some glass wall and elevator issues? All worked out now?
SCHARTNER: Yes, and no. The stunning angled glass wall is installed and more beautiful than we could have imagined, but the elevator is still being installed. We are in the process of having the office suite tenants move in throughout the month of April and are still planning on a May 1 full facility opening, at which time all co-working members can start working there and all of the meeting and event spaces can be reserved.
PBN: Where is Innovate Newport in terms of tenancy overall?
SCHARTNER: We took approximately 10,000 square feet of the total 33,000 square feet – facing west off the main hallway on the first and second floors – and made those our prime office suites. They have been spoken for since November and those are the office-suite tenants that are in the process of moving in. These tenants are: INSPIRE Environmental; the Newport County Chamber of Commerce, which is also a partner in the project with the city of Newport and the Economic Development Foundation of Rhode Island; Towerhill Associates; Drupal Connect; and VizSafe.
The rest of the space is all co-working, meeting and event space and we are continuing to sign up co-working members daily. We have a room on the second floor with 16 designated desks and all of those have been spoken for. Our most popular membership, aside from the designated-desk membership, is the part-time membership. Because the designated desks went so quickly, we are considering taking one of the large conference rooms and using it for a new, "hot desk" membership option that would fall in between the full-time and designated-desk memberships. We are planning for upwards of 60 co-working members to be signed up by our May 1 opening.
PBN: There has been talk about developing synergy between local marine-tech businesses via Innovate Newport. Is this something that needs much boosting?
SCHARTNER: While Newport is a globally recognized hub of activity for marine-technology businesses, much of that activity today is being driven by the large defense contractors. What Innovate Newport will drive is the diversification of the marine-tech industry by facilitating the creation and attraction of marine-technology startups to the city and region. By leveraging our proximity to the [U.S.] Navy, Rhode Island's world-class marine-technology supply chain and the major defense contractors, we will create a marine-technology ecosystem that will truly be world class.
PBN: With construction completed, what is the next main priority for you?
SCHARTNER: Opening! Planning exciting events with our partner organizations, such as our first big event with Rhode Island Inno and Cox Business on Thursday, May 9, and our official ribbon cutting, as well as hosted events such as DesignxRI's May Clambake, RI Bio's June networking event, Newport Interactive Marketers June and August monthly events, the Northeast Clean Energy Council's July 18 event and so many more. Also, we are getting our co-workers signed up and helping our office suite tenants settle in. There's never a dull moment and it's all great!
PBN: Rumor has it that you've led some 500-plus tours of the under-construction space. Will you miss the hard hat?
SCHARTNER: I am very much looking forward to not wearing a hard hat five days a week! I will continue to give tours – I had five this morning before heading up to Commerce RI for a meeting – but I am looking forward to these tours without the hard hat.


text:
Utah Warriors hold Austin to second-half shutout in season-opening win, 17-9
By Sean Walker, KSL.com | Updated - Feb. 2, 2019 at 7:30 a.m. | Posted - Feb. 1, 2019 at 9:10 p.m.
(Courtesy: Utah Warriors)
Warriors open season with 17-9 win over Austin Elite
ROUND ROCK, Texas — The Utah Warriors were the No. 1 try-scoring team in Major League Rugby's inaugural season last year, averaging just over 30 points per match and boasting leading try scorer Tonata Lauti.
But in Friday night's 2019 season opener in Texas, the Warriors won in a new way: with defense.
"This was a great way to start the season. It was a very physical game and showed us some room for improvement but overall I was pleased by the effort of the boys," said Warriors coach Alf Daniels in a statement from the club. "We have work to do as we prepare for San Diego on the 17th, but looking forward to a big season."
Former BYU flanker Ara Elkington scored the first try of the season just minutes into the season, and the Utah Warriors held Austin Elite Rugby to just nine points en route to a 17-9 season-opening win Friday night in Round Rock, Texas.
Fetu'u Vainikolo set up both first-half tries for the Warriors (1-0, 4 points), the only tries scored on the night.
"It's just like getting a head start and building that momentum," Elkington said after the win. "If you start slow, it may take you a few games in the season to build up. Right out of the gate, to get a win, it's big."
Elkington opened the scoring just moments into the game, dotting the corner for a try that put the Warriors up 7-0 after Tim O'Malley's conversion.
TFW you open the 2019 season with a 17-9 win on the road. @warriorsrugbyut got it done with defense tonight.
📝 | https://t.co/jEPECZ2TAlpic.twitter.com/wEiWQocJ0J
— KSL.com Sports (@KSLcomSports) February 2, 2019
After giving up a pair of penalties, Lance Williams doubled Utah's scoring, running off a maul following a lineup and pushing through the center of the try line for a 14-6 advantage.
Vainikolo set up both early tries, running off scrum on a pair of deep pushes into Austin territory to spring the final burst across the try line.
Elkington recovered a turnover as the Texans tried to punch in another try just over 30 minutes into the match, and the Warriors pushed deep into Elite territory twice. But Austin defended well, then earned a penalty kick that Timothee Guillimin converted at the halftime buzzer to pull within five, 14-9 at the break.
"I think our scrum and out lineout were great," Warriors coach Alf Daniels said. "When we are patient, we looked good."
Indeed, even when the offense wasn't always there, Utah's defense showed up to play.
The Warriors consistently dominated the scrum, forced a few turnovers when Austin drove deep and added the equivalent of a goal-line stand late in the first half to take the lead.
But defensively, the second-year squad that lost former BYU and NFL fullback Paul Lasike and star flyhalf Kurt Morath in the offseason did its best work after the break.
Utah's defense held the Elite without a score for 40 minutes in the second half, out-scoring the Elite 3-0 on O'Malley's penalty kick just after the 70th minute.
Guillimin, who converted three kicks in the first half, went 0-for-3 on conversions after the break.
It was enough for Utah, which started the season a week later than most of the league due to a bye, took all four points from their Texas hosts. That moves the Warriors into a tie for second in the league with several other winners last week, including expansion side Rugby United New York and the defending champion Seattle Seawolves.
Utah is off next week before playing at San Diego at 3 p.m. MT Sunday, Feb. 17. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Scoring: Utah Warriors at Austin Elite ======================================
UT: Ara Elkington try (O'Malley kick) (7-0)
AUS: Timothee Guillimin kick (7-3)
UT: Lance Williams try (O'Malley kick) (14-6)
AUS: Timothee Guillimin PK (14-9)
Halftime: Utah 14-9
UT: Tim O'Malley PK (17-9)
Final: Utah 17-9
With league-leading offense, focus turns to defense for Utah Warriors in 2nd season
SportsUtah
Sean Walker
A proud graduate of Syracuse University, Sean Walker has covered BYU for KSL.com since 2015, while also mixing in prep sports, education, and anything else his editors assign him to do.
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Here are the inaugural winners from the first sanctioned competitive cheer championships


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Can health journalism be saved?
The pace of medical innovation is often frustratingly slow. What may seem like brilliant inventions often turn out to work no better than placebos, and medical norms that we take as fact are regularly reversed. However, popular health news often fails to reflect the incrementalism and nuance of medical discoveries, instead hyping unproven treatments.
In a recent Viewpoint piece in JAMA, Dr. Vineet M. Arora, Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago, David Rousseau, Vice President at Kaiser Health News, and Gary Schwitzer, journalist and founder of HealthNewsReview.org, write that health news has created an erosion of trust in information in news media.
There are broader health implications of health care hype as well. As Dr. John Mandrola writes in Quillette, the promotion of genome sequencing, precision medicine, health care wearables, and other high-tech developments are leading us to seek medical treatment when it isn't needed, leading to iatrogenic harm:
"While social media amplifies anecdotes of "saves" from personal health devices, real-world clinicians understand [that] it is hard to make a person without complaints better and interacting with healthcare comes with risks," Mandrola writes.
Misleading and overly-positive health news is systemic; the majority of health news articles in 2017 did not adequately point out the harms and benefits of the featured intervention. This has led to confusion and "erosion of trust" in health news media, the authors write. Much of the hype in health news can be attributed to the need for clicks in an oversaturated market; incremental changes don't get public attention. However, even cautious reporters can be led astray by spin in journal articles themselves, which regularly include positive claims although the primary endpoint results are negative.
Industry influence also plays a role in health news hype. Reporters may not be aware when their sources are doctors paid by drug or device companies, which could be create bias. Industry leaders have also funded health journalism conferences and trainings. Attending these events puts pressure on journalists to use the sponsors' experts as sources and write positive pieces about sponsors' studies or products.
What can we do to make health news more balanced and restore public trust in health media? Arora et al. have some suggestions. First, we can invest in high-quality health care journalism, specifically local news where funding is scarce. Second, clinicians can amplify truthful messages about health care through social media, such as pediatricians tweeting with #VaccinesWork and doctors like Imperial College of London Professor Darrel Francis does with his educational tweetorials. Lastly, physicians, researchers, clinicians, and other health policy experts can call out hype and poor science when they see it. Here at the Lown Institute, we strive do just that.